Wandering And Wondering

Mark Twain once said, “The two greatest days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you find out why.” But what happens when you know the why but can't figure out how to make it happen? It is this journey between the realization of your purpose and its actualization that Randall Worley calls process. Purpose, which answers why, can be realized in moment. However, process, which must answer how, is not actualized as quickly. In other words, “becoming an overnight success takes years.” Purpose has been a hot topic for several years, capturing the attention of those adrift in a culture of apathy and aimlessness. It is certainly a far more palatable subject in today’s culture of self-improvement than is process, because it seems to offer a free carpet ride from here to there. Your destiny, however, is not downloadable. The dream of your future is free, but the journey will demand a price. Yet it is in the sacrifice and effort of process that God will turn your purpose into a world-changing reality.

A unique contemplation of Yijing (I Ching). In the first part, Wondering, Jane Schorre ponders the meaning of the hexagrams, taking into consideration their arrangement, their relationships as thirty-two reflecting pairs, and their characters -- the Chinese names. Along her way, she retells selections from the classics of Laotse and Zhuangzi for illustration and clarification. In the second part, Wandering, Carrin Dunne carries the meditation further, wandering through the labyrinth of trigrams, nuclear trigrams, and line texts -- exploring psychological and spiritual meaning in the individual lines and their movements. Along her way, her discovery of the 'foursomes' leads to a kaleidoscopic view of Yijing as a whole and to a new approach ("a key, not the key") to meaning in Yijing.

Known worldwide as a creative darling, Mike Perry’s celebrated DIY style of hand-drawn rendering has influenced a generation of contemporary designers and illustrators. Though Perry publishes zines, runs a magazine, makes clothing, has curated three successful books, and has painted, sculpted, silk-screened, and drawn on anything and everything, Wondering Around Wandering is his first monograph. And, in tune with his whimsical nature, this book functions as a true artist’s book. Perry has carefully designed each page of this book, placing old work next to new and sometimes even reworking old work to make it new again. With explosive fluorescent colors, various paper stocks, and five four-page zines bound into the book, this volume is an object that must be experienced. With his playful approach to life and art, it is no surprise that Perry is considered the grandfather (or grandson) of this aesthetic. Artists, designers, hip trendsetters, children, the young-at-heart, and anyone interested in DIY culture will treasure this amazing project.

What is it like to find yourself at home while far away in the world? For one curious lamb, it's an enchanting secret, an ongoing nighttime adventure through the world of her dreams. But what will mama think? Follow the story of a little lamb's journey to find courage, strength, wisdom, and kindness in a world full of wonder.

"Children who get distracted easily will relate to Sadie and will realize they can focus on their positive qualities." —Oregon Coast Youth Book Preview Center Sadie feels like her thoughts are soaring into the clouds and she can’t bring them back down to earth. She has trouble paying attention, which makes keeping track of schoolwork, friends, chores, and everything else really tough. Sometimes she can only focus on her mistakes. When Sadie talks to her parents about her wandering, dreaming mind, they offer a clever plan to help remind Sadie how amazing she is. Includes a Note to Parents and Caregivers with more information on ADHD, self-esteem, and helping children focus on the positives.

"I wonder as I wander, out under the sky. . ." Annie Morgan wonders about a lot of things. She wonders why her mother had to die. She wonders how she and her wandering preacher father will pay for gas and food when they're just as poor as everybody else. Finally she finds a way to express all her wonderings in a haunting song sung to a small crowd on the courthouse steps. This charming story, beautifully illustrated by Ronald Himler, tells how the beloved Appalachian Christmas carol "I Wonder As I Wander" may have come to be written.

Louisville native John Jacob Niles (1892–1980) is considered to be one of our nation’s most influential musicians. As a composer and balladeer, Niles drew inspiration from the deep well of traditional Appalachian and African American folk songs. At the age of sixteen Niles wrote one of his most enduring tunes, “Go ’Way from My Window,” basing it on a song fragment from a black farm worker. This iconic song has been performed by folk artists ever since and may even have inspired the opening line of Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe.” In I Wonder as I Wander: The Life of John Jacob Niles, the first full-length biography of Niles, Ron Pen offers a rich portrait of the musician’s character and career. Using Niles’s own accounts from his journals, notebooks, and unpublished autobiography, Pen tracks his rise from farm boy to songwriter and folk collector extraordinaire. Niles was especially interested in documenting the voices of his fellow World War I soldiers, the people of Appalachia, and the spirituals of African Americans. In the 1920s he collaborated with noted photographer Doris Ulmann during trips to Appalachia, where he transcribed, adapted, and arranged traditional songs and ballads such as “Pretty Polly” and “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair.” Niles’s preservation and presentation of American folk songs earned him the title of “Dean of American Balladeers,” and his theatrical use of the dulcimer is credited with contributing to the popularity of that instrument today. Niles’s dedication to the folk music tradition lives on in generations of folk revival artists such as Jean Ritchie, Joan Baez, and Oscar Brand. I Wonder as I Wander explores the origins and influences of the American folk music resurgence of the 1950s and 1960s, and finally tells the story of a man at the forefront of that movement.